I know some industrial machines out there have walking foots like the Consew 206. I have heard the walking foot is to aid in even fabric feeding when sewing at very high speeds. Anyone have experience sewing with a walking foot machine? How do they perform with canopy fabric, jumpsuits, webbing, etc..? I used one quite a while back but I don't remember much about it. I am in the market for my first machine.

My Singer 211, which is a single-needle walking foot, works great for container repairs, bootie repairs, riser repairs and the like. I wouldn't be able to do some of the more "heavy-duty" repairs without it. This was the third machine I bought, right behind a lighter-duty straight/zig-zag machine that I use for canopy patching and a bartacker for linesets.

I also have a Brother double-needle walking foot with a binder that is a workhorse.

The drawbacks to walking foots (at least how mine are currently setup) is the foot is usually a little bigger and it's not as easy to get into some of the tighter places.

Technically, compound feed is simply more than one feed method. There are several types of feed combinations used, especially in manufacturing. And their names will often confuse the issue.

Practically for rigging work there are only three common types. Bottom feed, which is the simplest. It uses feed dogs and a presser foot only. You know this type. Second is needle feed, where the needle bar moves in time with the feed dogs to pull the material along. Almost always used as an addition to bottom feed. Ebay sellers will call this "combination" feed, which it is, hoping you will confuse this with alternating presser feed. Which is the proper name for "walking foot" You can tell an alternating presser foot machine by it's inner and outer foot. The inner foot stays down and moves in time with the feed dog and the needle bar to move the material while the outer foot raises up till the end of the cycle then lowers to hold it in place while the needle bar returns for the next stitch.

I own a Juki LU-562 which is a walking foot machine and like Stratostar, I too own a Singer 31-15. I rarely use the Juki and find that the Singer does just about everything I need from canopy repair all the way up to heavier fabrics and webbing. Ive used 138 thread in it before and it worked just as good as E thread. If you are looking for your "first" machine I would recomend a simple bottom feed like the 31-15 and then a good zig zag machine. I used my 31-15 literally 80% of the time, great little machine. I found the Juki for next to free from a friend thinking it would be great for canopy repairs only to find it was way overkill.

The Pfaff 118 we have in our club is a bottom feeder and I would like to have something that pulls the material better, e.g. walking foot. The needle feed sounds a bit weak when it comes to pulling 2 layers of cordura + binding tape, or is it? The momentum might be to large for the needle mechanism?

How does the three methods of transportation work with ZP or f-111 fabric?

I'm thinking of getting a straight + zig zag machine for E-thread to begin with. I guess that will cover most of the work and is a nice start. Any suggestions on models?

These machines can be converted to a bottom feed machine. Contact Henderson Sewing for more info on this.

When I first started doing parachute gear sewing I bought a Singer 401A machine. Singer called this a 'heavy-duty' household machine. By using a Jeans needle ( as in blue jeans ) it will sew 'E' thread very nicely. I built my first TSO'd container using only this machine.

Later I bought a Singer 31-15 which I consider the workhorse of the industry. I have had sewing mechine mechanics not believe what I would go thru with the 31-15.

For lighter stuff, i.e., canopy fabric, pilot chutes, reserve free bags, etc, I would recommend a Singer 401A/500A/501A. These are simple house-hold bottom feed machines. I have attached a picture of my 501A; the others look almost identical. These machines will do a straight stitch and a zig-zag without using any cams. Cams were available for all kinds of patterns at one time; they are almost impossible to find now.

As you move into heavier stuff, a 31-15 is a great machine. They are getting old and I sold both of mine a few years ago. I now use a Pfaff 463 which I consider the finest bottom feed single-needle machine I have ever sewed with. The only drawback is that it has rather small bobbins so you have to change bobbins out way too often. I also have a Consew 206 walking foot machine and I like it. But since I fell in love with the Pfaff, I only use the Consew for the heavier stuff that the Pfaff would struggle with; so the Consew gets used only seldom.

As one gets more & more experience with various machines, you will find those that you just simply fall in love with. However, the next guy may also think it is a terrible machine. Such is life.

I hope that this helps a little,

JerryBaumchen

PS) A little story. At the first PIA Sympsium in 1991, Rags Raghanti ( sp ?? ), did a seminar on sewing/patching ZP fabric. He is a fantastic stitcher. I was sitting next to Ralph Hatley during the seminar and Ralph commented, "That is his machine." Meaning that he had set it up exactly how he wanted to use it for what he was doing.

If you have access to and experience with a Pfaff 118 machine and you find you need better, more even feed, then an alternating presser feed machine is the way to go. That is if it is for feeding multiple layers of heavier material and getting nicely spaced consistent stitches. You should be able to sew patches into canopies with just bottom feed. If you can't then you need more practice. (like me). Like Jerry says, a domestic type machine can do this. I use a Singer 201, but the 500 or 401 like his is good as well. The military trained riggers to patch with a 31-15 for decades. When choosing this type of machine consider how wide the feed dogs and foot are. Much of this stuff can be done on several types of machine, but you need to learn how to use and set them up for different jobs. A large loft will have many machines, some of the same type but set up differently. The challenge for us is learning to do many jobs with one or two machines. I don't know about you, but I only have so much room for sewing machines, and still have a place to pack. One of mine is on wheels to help make room.

I have a Singer 211 which is a walking foot machine. I find that it is only really useful for heavier container work or multiple layers of webbing etc. The machine I use most is my 20u, its a drop feed machine, will sew canopy patches just fine and deals with almost any other work. After changing over the feed dog and foot it really works well for any zig-zag work. A good choice as a first machine. I have a twin needle Mitsubishi for all my binding but I bought that in the greatest deal in the history sewing machine purchases! I had a 31-15 once, regret selling it now, top machine.

Last summer I bought a Sailrite (manufactured by tacsew) and I just love it. It is designed for nautical applications like sewing sails, vinyl seat cushions, webbing, boat covers etc. but it also works excellent for parachute rigging applications. It has a walking foot that works in both straight stich and zig-zag and it works in both forward AND reverse. The foot is a bit large so it is a little tough for tight corners but the needle can be positioned in left, right, or center so that really helps. Built like a tank and capable of sewing anything up to 3/4 of an inch. Sold new for a lot less than other walking foot machines and it is hard to find any that have the walking foot in both straight and zig-zag and both directions. The videos on their website are quite impressive.

They say you can sew thinner material by backing off the mega-spring, change the needle, change the thread etc. but I would not use this for patching canopies. The dogs on the upper and lower foot are so agressive I would be concerned with damaging the fabric. But for everything else it is an awesome machine.

When I sewed a parachute for my bachelor thesis, I came across a long arm double needle heavy duty machine. It could sew straight through 3 layers of Dacron storm sail fabric, 2 layers of binding tape and 0,5cm cheap boat line. It was awsm!

But is it beneficial to have a long arm machine for canopy repair? I'm amazed by you using household machines for patching. How do you distribute all the fabric without it clogging up under the arm? It is possible to repair jumpsuits on the Pfaff we have in my club, but I have to stuff fabric in all direction when sewing in some places. it it's just a patch on the nose or similar, I can understand that you can use them. But in the tail on a 280 student canopy or tandem canopy, won't it be very hard? Long arms are of course super duper expensive, but I'm curious :)

Our Pfaff 118 can't handle E-thread and suffers when repairing binding tape on leg pads and can't handle E-thread. We have now gone down to a lighter/thinner thread and then it works flawlessly. But is there any way we may adapt it to handle E-thread? It is a good machine and we had it overhauled recently. But still, it couldn't take E-thread.

All the different options and customizing I've learned about sewing machines is fascinating! I had no idea when I started searching for å setup that it was this complex. :)

it it's just a patch on the nose or similar, I can understand that you can use them. But in the tail on a 280 student canopy or tandem canopy, won't it be very hard? Long arms are of course super duper expensive, but I'm curious :)

stitching is there to be unstitched You sometimes need to open a bit more of teh canopy to patch in some places, and then re-close everything. Just like a surgeon when he needs to do an operation. He doesn't always use the "natural" openings. Sometimes he needs to make a bit more space to be able to work.

Last summer I bought a Sailrite (manufactured by tacsew) and I just love it. It is designed for nautical applications like sewing sails, vinyl seat cushions, webbing, boat covers etc. but it also works excellent for parachute rigging applications.

I've had nothing but fucking issues with my LSZ-1.

One of these days I'm going to have to sit down with it and not get up till she's working perfectly.

I've patched canopies up to 580 sqft and never lifted a seam to get to it, even right up next to the tail.

If I was doing it again, I probably would lift the tail seam though.

If you're going to open up a seam, I'd recommend the closest load-bearing (bottom) seam instead of the tail seam. A typical load-bearing seam is stacked and sewn and therefore easier to reassemble than a tail seam rolled around reinforcement tape.

I've patched canopies up to 580 sqft and never lifted a seam to get to it, even right up next to the tail.

If I was doing it again, I probably would lift the tail seam though.

If you're going to open up a seam, I'd recommend the closest load-bearing (bottom) seam instead of the tail seam. A typical load-bearing seam is stacked and sewn and therefore easier to reassemble than a tail seam rolled around reinforcement tape.

Mark

Good idea. I've never had an issue with rolled seams before, but makes sense.